Introduced by:
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PASADENA REPEALING
ORDINANCE NOS. 7455 AND 7457 PROHIBITING URBAN LOT
SPLITS AND CONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPLE DWELLINGS
PURSUANT TO SENATE BILL 9 IN VERY HIGH FIRE HAZARD
SEVERITY ZONES WITHIN THE BOUNDARY OF THE EATON FIRE
WHEREAS, windstorms of extraordinary magnitude and widespread fires began on January 7, 2025, which included dangerous gusts of wind of over 80 miles per hour and wind-driven and destructive wildfires including the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire; and
WHEREAS, these conditions caused extensive damage to residential and nonresidential structures, businesses and critical infrastructure in the City of Pasadena ("City") and the Eaton Fire specifically destroyed 185 structures in the City, a majority of which were zoned single-family residential, displacing Pasadena residents; and WHEREAS, the combined fires in the County of Los Angeles ("County") collectively burned over 47,900 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 16,250 structures, including homes, small businesses, and places of worship, with initial estimates placing this disaster among the most destructive in California history; and WHEREAS, on July 30, 2025, the Governor issued Executive Order N-32-25, which acknowledged that Senate Bill ("SB") 9 was not tailored for circumstances like the present situation and suspended Government Code sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 in very high fire hazard severity zones within the boundaries of the Palisades and Eaton Fires to the extent they limit discretion in approval of applications for development of two units on a single-family parcel or lot split; and
WHEREAS, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 7455 on September 15, 2025 to prohibit SB 9 applications within the very high fire hazard severity zone within the boundaries of the Eaton Fire, and adopted Ordinance No. 7457 on October 27, 2025 to extend Ordinance No. 7455;
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WHEREAS, on December 10, 2025, a lawsuit entitled Yes In My Back Yard, et a/. v/. Gaw'n Newsom, et al. (Case No. 25STCP04761) was filed against Governor Newsom, the County of Los Angeles, and the Cities of Los Angeles, Malibu and Pasadena challenging Executive Order N-32-25, and seeking to invalidate local orders, ordinances and policies adopted pursuant to that Executive Order; WHEREAS, in light of the costs, risk, and uncertainties associated with litigation and in consideration of the time that has elapsed since the Eaton Fire, the City elects to repeal Ordinances Nos. 7455 and 7457;
NOW THEREFORE, the People of the City of Pasadena ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. Ordinance No. 7455, adopted September 15, 2025, and Ordinance No. 7457, adopted October 27, 2025, are hereby repealed in their entirety.
SECTION 2. If any subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this section, and each and every subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof not declared invalid or unconstitutional, without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance and shall cause this ordinance to be published.
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SECTION 4. This ordinance shall take effect upon publication.
Signed and approved this _ day of_, 2026.
Victor M. Gordo
Mayor of the City of Pasadena
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was adopted by the City Council of the City of Pasadena at its meeting held this _ day of_ 2026, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
Date Published:
Approved as to form:
Caroline Monroy
Assistant City Attorney
Mark Jomsky
City Clerk
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